Peer-Review and Academic Archaeology: Quality, Epistemology and Science Policies

The object of the present article is to study the relations between the forms of knowledge production in archaeology and the existing systems of publication in academic journals. We explore the predominant criteria in peer-review processes and the relative importance of their epistemological dimension. The results are discussed in terms of the social, political and institutional implications of contemporary academic archaeology, suggesting a need to strengthen epistemological criteria in the peer-review processes, thus improving the justification of the assertions that archaeology makes about the past. This is important for archaeology as a discipline that claims to generate a contribution to present-day society, but it requires changes in institutional policies at local and regional levels in order to be effective.